Off the back of yet another dampening elimination from European competition, Tottenham Hotspur return to Premier League action against Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.

Antonio Conte's men lost 1-0 on aggregate to AC Milan in their Champions League last-16 battle in midweek, while the Tricky Trees most recently drew 2-2 at home to Everton.

Match preview

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Fans booing, the manager's future facing further uncertainty and Richarlison hitting out at said manager for his "s***" fortunes this season - just another standard cup elimination for silverware-starved Tottenham Hotspur.

In the past 10 days alone, two avenues to trophies have been blocked off, with Spurs falling to a 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United in their FA Cup fifth-round tie before losing by the same scoreline on aggregate to Milan in the Champions League, having bored fans and neutrals with a drab goalless stalemate in Wednesday's second leg.

Barring an unbelievable surge to the top of the Premier League table - which seems fanciful given their 18-point gap to leaders Arsenal - fourth-placed Tottenham surely only have Champions League football left to fight for in the coming weeks amid their unsightly winless and scoreless streak in recent games.

Now without a victory or indeed a goal in their last three games - including a 1-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers in last weekend's top-flight battle - Tottenham could soon find themselves out of the top five entirely if Liverpool and Newcastle United win their games in hand, but recent home exploits in the top flight serve as cause for mild optimism.

Indeed, Conte's men have won their last three Premier League games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium without conceding a goal. Not since March 2018 have they enjoyed a run of four home wins with four clean sheets in tow, when Mauricio Pochettino - whose name was sung by supporters on Wednesday amid rumours of a sensational return - was in charge.

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As speculation surrounding Conte's long-term future continues to rage, some members of the Tottenham hierarchy have supposedly taken a liking to Forest boss Steve Cooper, whose side's unbeaten home run in the Premier League was extended to an impressive nine matches with last week's draw against Everton.

Twice Everton took the lead through Demarai Gray and Abdoulaye Doucoure, and twice Forest struck back through two-goal hero Brennan Johnson, whose sixth and seventh strikes of the season rescued a valuable point for Forest in their sustained effort to avoid a swift demotion.

The 14th-placed Tricky Trees are by no means out of the woods yet, but they hold a four-point advantage over 18th-placed Everton with a game in hand thanks to last week's draw, although that did extend their winless run in the division to four matches.

Furthermore, away day deficiences are threatening to cancel out their resilient home streak, as the Tricky Trees have won just once away from home in the league all season and have scored a mere three goals on rival turf - unsurprisingly the worst record of its kind in the division.

After Conte oversaw a 2-0 win over Forest at the City Ground back in August, Cooper's men gleaned revenge in November with victory by the same scoreline in the EFL Cup, but no newly-promoted side has managed to come away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with all three points in the bag, yet.

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As one centre-back returns, another may drop out for Tottenham, who have Eric Dier back from a Champions League ban, but Cristian Romero stayed down injured after seeing red for a second bookable offence against Milan in midweek.

Whether Romero was really injured or simply trying to buy himself time only he knows, but the Argentina international will need assessing here alongside knock victims Ivan Perisic and Emerson Royal, while Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur, Hugo Lloris and Ryan Sessegnon remain sidelined.

Having blasted Tottenham's coaching staff during a scathing post-match rant, Richarlison has done his prospects of getting back into the first team no favours, but Conte may consider refreshing his XI with the likes of Pape Sarr and maybe even Arnaut Danjuma here.

Meanwhile, Forest also have their own batch of long-term absentees to cope with, as Taiwo Awoniyi, Dean Henderson, Willy Boly, Moussa Niakhate, Scott McKenna, Omar Richards, Cheikhou Kouyate and Giulian Biancone take up spots in the medical bay - only Niakhate has a slim chance of making the bench this weekend.

Attempts to re-register Steve Cook to combat their defensive crisis have been met with resistance by the Premier League, but on a brighter note, Ryan Yates returned from illness to provide an assist in the draw with Everton.

Jack Colback's brief run in the team may therefore come to an end as Yates returns to the first XI, while right-back Serge Aurier should line up from the off at his old home.

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Forster; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Porro, Hojbjerg, Sarr, Davies; Kulusevski, Kane, Danjuma

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Navas; Aurier, Worrall, Felipe, Lodi; Yates, Freuler, Shelvey; Johnson, Wood, Gibbs-White

We say: Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Nottingham Forest

There were glum faces aplenty in midweek, with many Tottenham fans braving the arctic blast to watch their side put in a performance as miserable as the weather, but a return to winning ways is surely on the agenda here.

Unable to replicate their unbeaten home streak on rival territory, Forest's continued lack of attacking threat away from home should cost them dear in a comprehensive defeat, but do not expect Spurs to find the back of the net at will.


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